Viktor Krum From Harry Potter Is Unrecognizable Today
The "Harry Potter" franchise is rife with British household names, but it also served as a launching point for many people's careers. From the main trio to many of the secondary characters, a lot of these actors went on to find success in other projects outside of the wizarding world. Still, some of them have gone a bit under the radar in the years since their involvement.
One such example is Bulgarian actor Stanislav Yanevski (sometimes credited as Ianevski), who portrayed the beloved Quidditch heartthrob and Durmstrang alum Viktor Krum. Since getting his breakout role in the franchise, Yanevski is not the only one who has changed quite a bit, but unless you are very good with faces and have quite a keen eye, you might struggle to recognize him if you were to see him out and about.
This is in no small part due to his impressive physical changes, for which the actor has loved getting recognition. In a tweet, he even shared a Bustle article about his transformation, saying, "When the world acknowledges your hard work ... thank you." With fall and Halloween upon us, many "Harry Potter" fans like to re-watch the movies for ambiance — if you are one of those people, and have been wondering what Yanevski is up to now, here's a look at his life in the Muggle world.
He looks very different today
At 38, Stanislav Yanevski was bound to look very different now than the fresh-faced 20-year-old he was during the filming of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." What might surprise fans who haven't kept up with him, however, is just how much he has changed. Not only is he older, but Yanevski has gone through quite the evolution in the nearly two decades since his portrayal of Viktor Krum.
One needs only to scroll through his Instagram to see exactly what we mean. Gone is the clean-shaven look, with the actor now favoring facial hair — and though he does seem to prefer a full beard, he has occasionally been seen sporting a mustache and goatee. But that's not all, as Yanevski has also kept quite fit, gotten several new tattoos, and even had a long hair phase.
Of his tattoos, which he started getting back in 2006, he told Polish blog Życie, Muzyka, Pasje: "I really like them. Some of them have meanings, giving me strength, power, protection ... Some are there just because I thought they were nice and would link well to the rest."
He still acts on occasion
Though his role as Viktor Krum is still his largest to date, it may surprise some people to learn that Stanislav Yanevski is still acting. Since his debut, he has been cast in both Bulgarian productions and international ones, including a few recurring TV roles. His latest movie, "Last Man Down," saw the actor in the role of Dr. Feltspat, and is available on streaming, though it received middling ratings on IMDb. That being said, Yanevski has two upcoming international projects with as-yet-unknown release dates.
The first, an action film titled "The Cloaking," in which he portrays the character of Boris the Hammer, was meant to be released in 2019 but has apparently been indefinitely postponed. As for the second, he was cast in the TV miniseries "The Devil's Right Hand," a Western that is currently in pre-production. But Stanislav is passionate about his career, telling Życie, Muzyka, Pasje, "I love acting and I love my job, so as long as I'm in it, I can say I'm a happy man." He also credits his fans for sticking with acting, claiming, "Without my fans, I would have given up [a] long time ago."
In the past five or so years, Yanevski has also tried his hand at producing – first as a co-producer in a short he also starred in, "Frame of Regret," and later as an executive producer of "The Cloaking."
He is still involved with the Harry Potter fan base
Outside of his acting gigs, Stanislav Yanevski has remained quite involved with the "Harry Potter" fan base. Though the choice to cast him as Viktor Krum has been met with some criticism over the years, Yanevski seems very grateful to have been a part of the franchise, telling Życie, Muzyka, Pasje, "We have the best fans ever supporting us!"
In the 18 years since the release of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the actor has become quite a fixture at conventions all over the world, including the popular Potter-centric LeakyCon. During 2022's convention, he shared a lot of fun tidbits about himself with an interviewer from MuggleNet during a game of truth or dare, including where he is most ticklish (it's the ribs, FYI).
Then, earlier this year, Yanevski published pictures of himself and fellow co-star Tom Felton in attendance on his Instagram, captioning it, "Viktor Krum and Draco Malfoy reunited. We were sitting together in the Great Hall and had some of the best most fun times together. Who would have thought they'd get along this well."
He has a YouTube channel
If you are curious about what Stanislav Yanevski's life looks like outside of his Instagram, you might want to check out his YouTube channel. In it, the actor shares some longer-form videos of his life, including his passion for biking, fitness, and even the occasional Q&A.
Most recently, Yanevski has published some videos of himself adventuring outdoors in Bulgaria, and talking about his journey with braces while on his way to a dentist appointment. He may not be the most consistent with publishing, but it's worth subscribing if you want to stay in the loop for any future updates.
And if that still isn't quite enough content to get your fill of the actor, then it may please you to know he is also on Cameo. Whether you're looking for yourself, or a friend who just happens to love Viktor Krum, you can get a personal video for $35, with some of his past examples ranging from anywhere between 45 seconds and a little under four minutes.
He likes to stay pretty active
By now, you can probably already tell that Stanislav Yanevski leads quite an active lifestyle. In recent years, he seems to have taken to cycling, sharing a lot of his progress on social media. But even before that, Yanevski has taken great pride in his appearance, with a lot of his social media posts dedicated to fitness checkups, intended to update fans on his gym journey. He is also often outside, be it camping, exploring Europe on his motorcycle, hiking, and plenty more.
According to the actor, he first got into working out as a way to bolster his career after being told by his agent that he needed to start looking like an action hero if those were the roles he wanted to go after. "This is why I concentrated more on my training, diet and changed my lifestyle," he told Życie, Muzyka, Pasje, adding, "I fell in love with [a] healthy lifestyle and it has become a part of me. I do it for work but a lot more just for myself."
It's clear that this pursuit sparked something in Yanevski, as a good amount of what he shares online is dedicated to the healthy lifestyle he's fallen in love with.
He almost didn't get cast as Viktor Krum
While fancasts will always be around, especially for popular franchises, it is always funny to imagine what our favorite films and TV shows might have looked like if they'd gone a different route with their casting choices. When the producers of "Harry Potter" started looking for an actor to play Viktor Krum, they held open auditions in Bulgaria, but Stanislav Yanevski, who had been studying in England at the time, was invited to audition on pure chance.
In an interview with Novinite, Yanevski shared that he came across one of the casting directors, Fiona Weir, while late to registration for his college — a case of right place, right time. Weir then invited him to audition, and after a successful first session, Stanislav got two callbacks that he was unable to attend due to school exams.
At that point, he had no expectation that he'd end up getting the part, but after one more call which he claims was "not a very nice one, because they were mad at me for not showing up," the actor finally managed to attend. After all that back and forth, Yanevski must have done something right in the end, as he then met director Mike Newell and officially got cast.
He wishes Viktor and Hermione ended up together
Speaking of his role in the franchise, Stanislav Yanevski has been quite the "Krumione" shipper. But it turns out he isn't the only one. During an episode of Entertainment Weekly's podcast "BINGE," the actor shared how David Yates had originally considered a love triangle between his character, Hermione Granger (played by Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) during the filming of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
In this interview, Yanevski discusses how Yates wanted to include this angle, but it was ultimately cut from the film "because it obviously didn't fit with all the horrible things that happen in the last book." Besides, with the last installment of the franchise already spanning two movies, it's no surprise that anything deemed unnecessary had to be pared down.
Still, when discussing the possibility, the actor laughed and said, "I don't know how far they could go ... [but] maybe they would've gotten into a fight with Ron, and Viktor would obviously win and then live happily on forever with Hermione." And sure, maybe we didn't get to see that on-screen, but we're sure there is plenty of fanfiction out there for anyone who would love to explore what might have been for these two characters.